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Thursday, May 28, 2015

GUEST POST: Green Line D Shuttle Buses

I'm really sorry for this hiatus - I've been really busy, and also really sick, so I haven't had much time to write. But here's a guest post from Jordan King!

A few weekends ago, I decided to take a trip on the shuttle bus that was operating on the Green Line (D) between Reservoir and Riverside stations, and it was an impressive weekend in terms of the type of buses that were taking part. There were NABI’S, New Flyers (Xcelsiors, D40LF, and C40LF), and finally the Rehabbed Neoplan AN440LF.

The route took about 30-45 minutes one way with traffic which wasn't bad, but in terms of the route itself it felt even longer. The route starts of course at the Reservoir busway then proceeds down Chestnut Hill Avenue, then heads down Boylston Street (Route 9). It’s first stop is at Boylston & Hammond Streets which is not far from the actual Chestnut Hill Station. The bus then continues down Route 9 to Langley Road where the 60 bus turns around to go back to Kenmore.

After about a good 5 minutes we get to Newton Corner where the majority of people get off. Now the bus follows the 52 to Newton Highlands where we drop some people off. Then we follow the 59’s route to Eliot, which is...well....a block away from Eliot. We travel down another street that leads us to Waban, which is the one of the richest parts of Newton, man I wish I lived here. We continue down Beacon Street (which, by the way, is the same Beacon Street that will bring you back to Boston) to Washington Street where we make a right. Both the Riverside and Reservoir bound buses go down the same way to Woodland. Now Woodland Station is by far the best station I've seen. The station has its own apartment complex and its own parking garage. Now we go back down Washington Street to I-95, however we get off at the next exit. We finally head down Grove Street, and eventually end up at the massive Riverside Station complex, and boy this station is big. So big that it requires a separate review.

Ridership: The exact same amount that would take the Green Line so...A LOT of people, I wish they had 60 footer buses. However, Sunday was a quiet day in terms of ridership.

Fleet: Like I said, there was a mix of buses from Cabot, Charlestown, Albany St, and even Lynn and Quincy Garages got in on this shuttle weekend. On Saturday, mostly New Flyers and Neoplans were ruling the day. But on Sunday, the NABI’s were on top.

Overall: 9/10

The route could've been a little bit shorter but overall with the mix of buses and the route itself, I thought this was a perfect weekend.